


Feathers

by velvetjinx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animal Death, Childhood Memories, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 11:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8247158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: Harry finds something that brings back memories while searching for something completely different.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a tumblr prompt forever ago - so long ago I don't even remember what the prompt was to be honest, and then just rediscovered it in my notes and figured I might as well archive it here.

The attic was a mess of dust-thick boxes, seemingly semi-organized in tightly packed sections, but Harry knew better than that. There was no organization here; the illusion was given by the obvious pathways weaving between the piles. 

Harry took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt, his expression thoughtful as he blindly scanned the room. He pushed his glasses back on to his nose then, after a moment's reflection, strode purposefully towards the pile underneath the attic's single, filthy window. The murky light was barely enough, even with the main electric light, but it would do. 

Pulling a box from the top of the pile, he sat with it on the floor and began searching through it. Once he had satisfied himself that the item he wanted was not in there, he began on the next box. For what felt like hours he continued, until he opened one of the boxes near the bottom of the heap, and stopped.

He had forgotten that he had kept this, he realised as he watched the light reflecting off of the metal bars. He wasn't even sure why he had kept it, but it had felt like the right thing to do. He could never forget her, loyal friend that she had been, but he had held on to this - a physical memento, the place that she had lived and slept during summers when she couldn't get out for too long even when the Dursleys were in one of their better moods. He drew his fingers lovingly across the smooth surface, then pulled it out of the box, the thought in the back of his mind that it could perhaps be cleaned up, reused, maybe be home to another....

It was then that he noticed the few white feathers at the bottom of the cage. Then that he knew why he could never use this for any other owl. Why all owls had been "family" owls, but never his. Never his. Never Hedwig. 

Slipping his fingers through the bars of the cage, he pulled out the feathers, still soft after so many years. Soft like she had always been. Like he remembered her. 

"Harry!" Ginny called suddenly from the hallway below, "Did you find Remus's journal for Teddy?" 

Harry wiped his tear-soaked face and cleared his throat. "Not yet, love," he replied, trying to make his voice sound normal. "I'm going to keep looking, though. I know it's up here somewhere."

"Alright." He heard her going down the stairs, and after a few moments put the feathers back in to the cage before replacing it in the box. Ten minutes later he stood up, pulled over another box, and continued searching.


End file.
